Of Magic, Mysteries and Murderous Freaks
by Isis Dragon-Heart
Summary: Merlin tells Morgana about magic when she discovers her own instead of sending her to the Druids. Then they meet someone else, a few secrets escape, and they're running from friends and enemies, trapped in the forest. DISCONTINUED, REWRITE UP SOON!
1. Magic

**Disclaimer: I can dream, but I do not own Merlin. *Sigh.***

**This time, Merlin's a Seer, he tells Morgana about magic, throw in another freaky character and what d'you get? THIS STORY! YAAY! (I hope, anyway.)**

**The quality will be quite bad at first but it gets better as I go on and starting a story is always hardest; I manage to mangle it especially well  
>Set in series 2 episode 3, Morgana is feeling lost and looks to Merlin for help but gets more than she bargained for.<strong>

Morgana felt slightly sorry for Merlin. She had just burst in, quite late at night, and started venting her suspicions about magic and demanding to see Gaius. He let her blab for a bit, then, when she took a pause, said, "Gaius will be back soon. He'll be able to help you."  
>"He won't. I don't want any more remedies. They don't do any good!" Morgana burst out before she could stop herself. Trying to preserve some of her dignity, and feeling that, for some reason, she could trust him entirely, she said in a calmer tone, "It's magic, Merlin."<br>The boy froze for a second. Though Morgana couldn't see it from his body language, his mind was racing. _She has nightmares like me, the same ones as me some nights. She could be like me, a Seer and a Sorcerer. But can I trust her?  
><em>Something decided for him, for the words escaped Merlin's mouth without consent, "Can I trust you, Morgana?"  
>Clearly, this was not what Morgana had expected, for she paused before regaining her composure and managing in a small voice, "Of course you can."<br>Merlin hesitated, but then thought, _No going back now, _and, looking at one of the candles he had just put out, he said in a clear voice, "_Forb__ærne." _ The candle lit instantly. Morgana gasped and stepped back once, shock clear on her face.  
>"<em>Magic...<em>"  
>"Magic."<br>There was a moment's silence between them. Neither wanted to speak first, but Morgana felt that she should let her friend (for she was now sure that's what he was) know that his secret was entirely safe with her.  
>"All this time, they took you as a clumsy fool who couldn't keep a secret to save his own neck, and that's exactly what you've been doing."<br>"So it would seem. You have to understand that magic does not twist your soul or make you evil. Magic is neither good nor evil, it depends on what you use it for, Morgana, and I couldn't imagine you, of all people, turning evil."  
>Another silence lapsed between them. Again, it was Morgana to break it.<br>"Merlin?"  
>"Yes?"<br>"Thank you. Your secret is safe with me. Could you….. could you teach me about magic? How to control it? You don't…." Morgana trailed off hopefully.  
>"Of course Morgana, providing I survive telling Gaius that I've told you."<p>

My first story! YAAY! Review and tell me if I'm rubbish or not please! I know it's a little…. Bad but it will get better (or maybe not). :P


	2. The WitchFinder's Guest

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot & Nightshade. Not the plant. The person.  
>Thanks to my reviewers Heather2910, Checkmate2002 and DAgron01 and anyone else who readfavourite/alerted my story! :P You're all great.  
>It might get a little goryromantic *shudder* from this chapter on.**

After Merlin had survived Gaius's wrath, managed to teach Morgana how to stop setting things on fire and convinced Arthur that there was nothing going on between them, a few quite uneventful weeks passed. Well, as uneventful as it gets in Camelot. Morgana and Gwen were kidnapped (Arthur and Merlin got them back, of course), Uther married a troll (he found out she was a troll in the end and she was gone) but then the WitchFinder came to Camelot. It didn't really matter that it was Merlin's fault (well…. It did but Morgana was not going to spend her entire life angry with him) it only mattered that he was there. In Camelot. Where two of the most powerful sorcerers lived. That was, you could say, slightly inconvenient.  
>Morgana was stood at her window, waiting for him to arrive and dreading what he would do if he caught her and Merlin practicing magic right under Uther's nose. Even when she didn't know she had magic, she had hated the WitchFinder. His methods were cruel and barbaric, and most of those he accused only admitted to doing sorcery to escape the torture he put them through.<br>"Is that him?" Gwen asked walking up behind Morgana to peer out the window as a horse trotted up with a cage behind it. A shady figure got off the horse and said something to one of the guards; it must be the WitchFinder, Aredian.  
>"Yes." Morgana muttered, realising they were both talking very quietly, as if nervous he might hear them.<br>"What do you think that cage's for? Is- is there something inside it?"  
>Morgana turned her attention to the ghastly cage that hundreds of people had been confined in and saw that there was something crouched inside, moving slightly every now and then. Someone alive was in that cage.<br>"He's brought someone here with him, and I don't think they'll be welcome in Camelot."

"Do you smell it? Do you smell it, Uther?"  
>Aredian had been hovering around a corner, eavesdropping on the king's conversation with his son. He appeared now to scare them both into thinking that his services were greatly needed, and to show them his <em>guest, <em>who was chained to his arm that was still in the shadows.  
>"Aredian." Uther said, clearly relieved that he was there. Aredian wasted no time with greetings such as this.<br>"It's all around us, the foul stench of sorcery. And not just that which I have brought with me."  
>Uther opened his mouth as if to reply, but then the last part of Aredian's speech registered in his mind, "That which you have brought with you? Whatever do you mean?" He enquired, sounding slightly worried. Surely Aredian was no sorcerer?<br>"This filth is too intriguing to destroy yet, but I cannot entrust it to any of the villages or it shall run wild." Aredian said, remaining expressionless as he tugged on a chain attached to his wrist and a small girl, no older than seven or eight, stumbled out of the shadows and looked as if she might collapse at Arthur's feet. Instead, she regained her balance, looked up at Uther and spat at the floor between his boots. She was very small in stature, though that could have had something to do with the fact she was severely underfed, but her face was angular and catlike with a sharp jaw line and very large, round eyes which were a clear, emerald-like green. Black, tangled hair fell just below her shoulders and her mouth was slightly opened, as if she intended to bite her captor (which would have actually been quite painful as her teeth were oddly pointed) but instead, she turned her ashen face towards Arthur and muttered something unintelligible, though Aredian must have heard, for he yanked her chain across the bridge of her nose and left a gash along one of her cheeks. She didn't make a sound, just stood there as if she hadn't noticed at all, or hadn't the will to express any pain.  
>"Well," Aredian said, clearly not wanting to hang around any longer with his, apparently dangerous, guest to Camelot, "I shall be off. We shall sort out my payment soon, and capture the sorcerers running riots in this once noble kingdom. My work has already begun." And with one final fierce tug on the chain, he and the small prisoner disappeared into the shadows once more.<p>

"What are we going to do, Merlin? Uther trusts Aredian beyond anyone else, he could have us both!" Morgana hissed quietly. She and Merlin were in Gaius's chambers, as Morgana had told Gwen that she was just going to ask Gaius about a new remedy for her nightmares. This worked well, because if ever it over-ran when she went to see Merlin about her magic lessons, she could just tell Gwen that Gaius had started to ramble on about herbs and anatomy. They didn't do their lessons this way, of course, they happened at night or when Merlin was out 'picking herbs for Gaius' so that they would not have to limit their time very much, but occasionally they managed to begin a conversation about magic and do a few spells, or just started to talk about entirely unrelated things. Morgana enjoyed the more normal conversations; Merlin was just about the only person who talked to her like she was the same as them instead of the King's ward, he didn't constantly call her 'My Lady,' or bow every time he saw her. It felt quite good to be treated normally rather than over-respected, and Arthur was lucky to have Merlin as his servant (however, it did sound like he complained a lot).  
>"Well…." Merlin said, bringing Morgana out of her thoughts and back into the present. "I doubt he'd execute you. Uther cares about you too much to believe you would be a sorceress, and Aredian wouldn't dare accuse you for fear of losing his authority."<br>"But what about _you, _Merlin? What would _you _do if you were accused?" Morgana pressed on, "And what if Uther's faith in this man is more than his caring for me?"  
>"Er…."<br>"And what will we do if our friends are accused for what we've done? This is an utterly impossible situation, Merlin!"  
>They both froze as the faint sound of footsteps came from outside the door. Merlin sat down and began writing, Morgana composed herself and Gaius (whom Morgana had forgotten was there) started babbling something about the antibiotic properties of honey. The footsteps stopped directly in front of the door to the Physician's Chambers and a small piece of paper was pushed under the door, then the steps quickly fled in the opposite direction. Confused, Merlin picked up the paper and read the neat, curved handwriting,<p>

_Merlin, Morgana and, perhaps, Gaius,  
>My name is Nightshade. I am the prisoner of the Witchfinder and I have written this note to warn you about him. He may be clueless most of the time, but when he finds a real sorcerer, he knows it, so I urge you to be cautious with your lessons and stay away from Aredian; don't do it noticeably or he'll accuse you anyway but avoid him as much as you can. His methods are cruel and I have suffered many of them, and I would not want any of you to die at his hand, since I have sensed a change in your destinies. Ask the dragon about it, you haven't spoken to him in a while, he must be lonely down there in the dungeons. Do they feed him enough? I'll have their heads if they don't….. That's a bit off-topic, so I warn you again, BE CAREFUL.<br>Nightshade._

Merlin frowned. The Witchfinder had a prisoner? Who was she? Why would she warn them? And…. How would she know about any of this stuff? Slightly worried, Merlin passed the note to Morgana who ended up looking even more confused than he did. Then he remembered she didn't know about his visits to the Great Dragon and launched into an explanation about that. When Gaius had read the note and Morgana had been informed about The Great Dragon, the three stood in the middle of the room in silence for a few seconds. Then:  
>"What shall we do? How does…. Nightshade know about us?" Merlin asked, looking very confused (which Morgana and Gaius always found slightly amusing).<br>"There are some manners of magical creatures who can follow the actions of those they find particularly interesting or wish to hunt without being there personally. This one also mentioned 'sensing' a change in your destinies and is being kept prisoner by Aredian for what sounds like some malicious investigation of his. He used to keep many types of magical creatures for testing and torture." Gaius muttered matter-of-factly, searching around among all his papers (probably for an unknown book of creatures and magic). Morgana still looked stunned from the news about the dragon, and managed to avoid any further mention of it by telling them that Gwen would be wondering where she had gone and swiftly leaving to her chambers. As she laid in her bed many hours later, she stared at the flowers Merlin had given her when all this had just begun (they had been put in a new vase and Gwen thought that they were some kind of super-flowers, for they had not wilted at all (or been kept alive with magic, but no one had to know)) and just thought, _perhaps this will all be fine in the morning. _  
>How wrong she was.<br>She was called to the Throne Room in the morning for urgent matters concerning sorcery in Camelot. She sat on her throne uneasily, not wanting to keep still and feeling extremely anxious about why there were three women stood in the room an Aredian was pacing around them. It was almost too much for her when she saw the chained person in the corner. _Aredian's prisoner, Nightshade, is none other but a small child. _Her terrifyingly green eyes were staring straight at Morgana, which only added to her unease and made her want to run from the room. Instead, she listened intently to every word of the women's accounts and the WitchFinder's verdict. _Please, _she thought, _not me, not me or-  
><em>"The boy, Merlin!"  
>Morgana gasped and leaned forward in her throne, which earned her an odd look from Uther, but Arthur looked amazed that anyone could think that Merlin could do anything remotely secretive or intelligent, "Merlin." He said, looking amused and bewildered at the same time, "You can't be serious."<br>Gaius, at least, took this seriously, "This is outrageous! You have no evidence!" He shouted above the muttering in the room. Aredian was not discouraged at all, "The tools of magic cannot be hidden from me. I'm sure a thorough search of the boy's chambers will deliver us all we need." He lifted his chin, as if daring Merlin to deny the search. Just as Merlin opened his mouth to speak, there was a great rattling of chains and Nightshade strode as far as her chain would let her, so that she was noticed by everyone in the room. There was a collective gasp and mutterings as she stood, looking as if she were about to fall over from the weight of her chains. After the muttering had died down, she said in a cool, calm voice, "I have two requests; that Merlin watches his chambers ransacked by your filthy knights, king, and that all of the royals in this castle are present. Deny me this," she began on a more threatening tone, "And we can all hear the story about what lit your hate for magic and transformed it into the dancing flame that it is now."  
>After her, rather brave, words, it was like a staring contest between her and Uther. She glared at him without faltering, but those green eyes must have been too much for the king to bear along with the threat (which Morgana was very intrigued about) for he said "Fine. We will accompany the knights, as will the boy. However, I will no longer accept your presence where you do not belong, you will be escorted down into the dungeons."<br>"As you wish."  
>Surprised by her willingness to go down to the dungeons, Uther wasn't really sure what to do after that awkward exchange, so he just walked out of the room in the direction of the Physician's Chambers, followed shortly by Morgana, Arthur, Gaius and (dragged by guards) Merlin.<p>

"I'm telling you, there's nothing in here, Aredian!" Arthur shouted over the noise of rustling papers and things smashing. _I'll have to tell them later that this is no way to search someone's chambers. They'll have to be more careful in the future, _Arthur thought, looking around at knights bashing stools against tables looking for hollow legs and breaking jars of powders and liquids. Sir Leon smashed one full of blue powder and green fragments and inside, showered in blue, was a small bracelet with a too-orange-to-be-natural gemstone. Leon picked it up and handed it to Aredian, who smiled darkly when he took it. "An amulet of enchantment. Do you recognise this, boy?" He said, pushing the amulet right in front of Merlin's nose. Merlin shook his head, frowning.  
>"Oh? So someone else planted this in your chambers, did they?" Aredian's voice had turned from suspicious to taunting, and it made Arthur want to tell him to watch his tongue, despite the fact he had the authority to do this.<br>"I don't…. I have never seen that before in my life, I don't know where it came from." Merlin stuttered, tripping over his words as usual. Arthur nearly rolled his eyes at his uselessness, but then remembered the situation and settled for a small sigh.  
>"I know for certain that that amulet does not belong to Merlin!" Gaius said angrily, trying to right some of his papers.<br>"Oh? Well, who does it belong to then?" Aredian held the amulet up to Gaius, his face expressionless as usual.  
>"It belongs to –"<br>Before Gaius could finish his sentence, Merlin seemed to realize what the old man was doing.  
>"It's mine. I lied. I was the one that enchanted the amulet and conjured the horse from the smoke; I am the sorcerer in Camelot." He spoke over Gaius's objections, which continued after he had finished. Arthur didn't know what to think. Couldn't anyone else see that Merlin was too thick to be a sorcerer? That he was just trying to stop Gaius from being burned at the stake? This man couldn't walk into a room without tripping over something (even if it was thin air) so how could he be an evil sorcerer?<br>Aredian didn't know Merlin like he did though, and seemed extremely pleased with the confession. "Well then. I suppose you should be imprisoned immediately for…. _Questioning. _Guards, escort him down to the dungeons. And Uther? I would like a word, please."  
>The guards left with Merlin, and as Arthur followed them out, one thought went through his head.<br>_What. An. Idiot._

__

**Okeydokey! This is the second chapter up! It's a lot longer than the first and a little fast-moving, but this was always going to be an awkward chapter because Nightshade was introduced and Aredian isn't the easiest guy to predict the actions of. Review? Pleeeeease? I gives you magical ponies?**


	3. Author's Note

Hello guys, sorry I haven't posted since before the holidays, but I think that I really messed up this story.  
>I have decided to rewrite it when I manage to improve the plot (and my writing skills!) a bit more and get a proper structure for the story. I might write a few more things for Merlin and other booksTV programmes/Movies/Whatever, so look out for my name!  
>Thanks for reading this and I hope I'll manage to get the Rewrite up soon!<p> 


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